Puzzle
by The Warrior Of Twilight
Summary: A weary Doctor, recently saving the universe from two incarnations of his greatest enemy, is met with a dazed, confused young blonde woman with chocolate eyes looking to find a way back into his life. Or rather, his future life. One-shot.


With a quiet sigh, the Doctor promptly shut the leather-bound book in satisfaction, setting the piece of literature down on his relaxed lap.

Relaxed. Hah, glad to see he still had a sense of humour.

A quick glance to his right reminded him all was well, the TARDIS's hum echoing through the elegant-styled console room as the only sound within the ship's interiors, save for the low breathing of the weary Time Lord. Which was just as well, he needed a quiet break - dealing with two incarnations of your greatest enemy at once was a draining experience - from saving the universe once more. Sometimes, the Doctor pondered the idea of just letting things slide for once, let the local natives of whatever world a dangerous enemy terrorizes deal with their problems.

Ace would laugh at the notion.

A small quirk of the lips, before it died down.

Though many Time Lords adored a peaceful atmosphere, the solemn silence save for the TARDIS travelling through time and space, the flipping of pages and the low breathing of a tired old fool, it felt... Disturbing. Well, disrupting, would be the more apt term. Everything was much move... Lively with Ace, never a dull moment. Every moment with her was an exciting new adventure, filled with energy and heroism. The Doctor scoffed outwardly at the thought.

There was nothing heroic with his machinations. Ace was more a hero than he could ever be.

But now she was gone... Has been for a long, long time.

The Doctor often thought of visiting her, at the Academy. Previously travelling with Klein provided a bit of incentive within the old Time Lord. He could pop on over to Gallifrey, see how Ace was getting along, no doubt giving the oh-so righteous instructors a hard time. Perhaps visit Leela and Romana while he's at it, just to relive the glory days. All their times... All their adventures...

All the deaths.

That shadowy thought destroyed whatever idea the Doctor was beginning to conjure, inciting his heavy frown. No, those days were long over with. He can no longer trust himself to keep anyone safe. He's old now, incredibly old by this point in his life, and there was no need to drag his old friends deeper into the fire with him.

The consequences. The death tolls and destruction, acted mainly - _sometimes_ \- on his behalf.

The Doctor released a huff of frustration. No, they no longer needed him, and he certainly didn't need to drag their lives into danger once more. He was tired of playing the Chessmaster, weary of his schemes inciting death and mayhem just to crush his foes. Too much blood was on his hands already; they need not be shared. Hence, for the remainder of this incarnation, in any case, it was appropriate to be alone, drifted in his thoughts of older, innocent times. Times when he was a far grumpier old man with the bouncy energy of a Time-tot.

He missed those days.

Regardless, it's not inaccurate to presume how much trouble his friends were in currently, dealing with the political massacres that were Gallifreyan bureaucrats. Another quirk, another shadow of a smile, before it died down. His old companions can take care of themselves, they no longer required this aged fool to come and play around with their lives for the greater good.

Sometimes, the Doctor wondered what the 'greater good' even meant anymore...

The TARDIS didn't stop humming, indicating their arrival wasn't soon yet. Another sigh, eyes absently rolling around the tidy private study of a console room, redecorated not long after Ace's departure. And his Lungbarrow eyes landed on a single petite harmless flower. A rose, placed delicately in a classic vase on the side table next to his chair, gifted to him by an old friend. A rose which never wilted, as she once said.

 _A rose begins to lose its beauty once it learns no longer to love. And I will always hold you dear in my heart, for everything you have done, Doctor._

The memory and rose prompted his eyes to shut tight, refusing to allow himself to get too emotional. Trust Evelyn to push the right buttons; he'd rather have received her classic hot cocoa, or at least a slice of chocolate cake. But instead, she gave him something far more eternal and a reminder of what he was fighting for.

But a rose wasn't enough...

It's never enough...

...Hm?

Time has passed long enough for the Doctor to hone his senses, sharpen his sight, hearing, smell and the like. So it wasn't a surprise when Lungbarrow eyes shifted over to the right upon hearing the distortion of energy directly inside his TARDIS.

What was surprising was the distortion of energy inside his TARDIS. And the young woman who flew out of thin air onto the floor, rather roughly from his perspective.

Without hesitation, the bookw as swiftly placed on the table, the aged Time Lord rising and approaching the girl with weary caution. He may have aged in this incarnation, but he hasn't lost the game of chess with Death yet. Closer inspection, the girl facing the floor, letting a tiny moan was a petite blonde. Size, skin and hair colour suggested somewhere in her twenties, a blue jacket with black leather jeans, and heels to boot.

But what particularly caught his attention was the Time Agency device strapped to her wrist, inciting his brow to raise higher.

"Rather casual attire for an assassin to adorn, wouldn't you say?" Either she was foolish or incredibly certain of herself. Most likely both. When the woman didn't answer, attempting to push herself off the ground, the Doctor nodded with a ghostly smile. "Time distortion will do that to you. I'd recommend you take a moment to recover before proceeding to kill your target." _Or try to._ He let the words hung in the air.

But brown warm dazed looked up at him, and the Doctor forced himself not to immediately walk closer to help the woman up, despite the look startling him, and not in the bad way. But what puzzled him somewhat was the lack of hostility on the woman's rather attractive features, only a wary guarded expression, but the cracks were too big for the Time Lord to see the fear and confusion dancing in her chocolaty eyes. Still refusing to offer assistance, the Doctor calmly observed the girl use the edge of the console to stand up, taking a moment before stepping back with a frown.

"Who're you then?"

The Doctor almost chuckled at the weak display of dominance. Almost. "I should be asking you that, ma'am. You have, after all, invaded my ship without even a note beforehand. Rather rude, some would say." The mocking tone only prompted the young woman to glare harder, carefully brushing over her wrist in clear preparation. The Doctor only huffed. "Those subpar devices take a while to recharge, young lady. If you want to kill me, then you better work fast before I promptly kick you off my TARDIS for trespassing."

"'S been modified." Interesting accent. Almost endearing to hear. Again, almost. The young woman glared distrustfully at the Time Lord - the feeling was mutual - before continuing in irritation. "And I'll get off yer ship ya? I just need a moment to reprogram the... What was that last bit?"

A raised brow. "Reprogram the...?"

"No no, what you said!"

"If you want to kill me-"

"After that!"

How polite of her. Huffing slightly, the Doctor clasped his hands behind his back, looking up at the eye-widened lady diligently. "Trespassing my-"

"TARDIS..." She mumbled in awe, as if the very word had more sentiment to her than he realized. Probably did. Her guarded expression softened considerably, so much that it surprised the Doctor. "You said TARDIS..."

What game did she think she was playing? Sighing, the Time Lord proceeded to rub his face quite wearily. "Ma'am, I don't know what you're doing, but let me be clear; I am through playing these type of games with would-be assassins. I should have to make that my personal greeting from here onwards... Ma'am? Are you even listening?" The Doctor, slightly annoyed by the fact the intruder was now heavily focused on the consoles, took a step forward when she reached to place a hand on the delicate instruments-

And stumbled back slightly by the telepathic response. Anyone with at least a basic understanding of psychic energy could feel the TARDIS replying to the woman in kind, moreso than it should. Than _she_ should. "You've redecorated..." The blonde girl mumbled in quiet awe, gently brushing against the clean console and switches. "You look beautiful, old girl..."

Repressing a sight, the Doctor began rubbing his temple, both in weariness and irritation. Wonderful. Another puzzle to decipher, just when he wanted to catch a break, A short one at that.

And he was so weary of puzzles. So very, very weary...

The TARDIS hummed quietly, and that caused the girl to freeze. The Doctor frowned - what could the TARDIS have said to warrant that sort of response? - and immediately straightened himself at the brown warm eyes facing him, expression stunned and beginning to leak cracks of hope. The Time Lord carefully took a step back, wary still despite the TARDIS inwardly pleading to his subconscious.

"It's you..." The blonde whispered, and the Doctor almost spotted tears threatening to emerge. "It's really you..."

"If by 'me,' you mean 'the Doctor.'" He sighed tiredly. "Yes, I suppose I am-"

Today was just full of surprises.

Half of his vision was covered by silks of blonde hair, the shorter man gripped tightly into a rather intimate embrace by the young woman. Stunned at first, the indignant Time Lord had half a mind to push her off him, until the sound of sobbing could be heard into his shoulder. And with the TARDIS egging him on, the Chessmaster relented, gently patting the woman's back while awkwardly accepting the hug. But what irked him was how sorrowful the TARDIS was beginning to express in his mind, and from the sounds of the increased sobbing, it was affecting the intruder - or rather, guest by the point - as well.

"It's really you..."

A wry chuckle. "Who else would it be, my dear?" Despite having absolutely no clue who she even was, there was a sense of familiarity within her the Doctor felt upon close contact. Which can be deduced to the idea that either the Doctor met her once before a somehow forgot about it - probably his Fifth self, whose memories were often a blur to this version, and was quite charming with the women - or that she an important individual to him he had yet to meet.

One way to find out.

"Do we perhaps know one another?"

A choked sob, and the Doctor felt a slight breeze of disappointment and sadness - sadness? - by the abrupt ending to the hug, the woman staring at him through tearful chocolate eyes. "Doctor... 'S me... Please tell me you haven't forgotten me... Not now..."

Unwillingly, a hand reached up to gently brush the tears from her rosy cheeks. "I'm sorry." The Doctor expressed solemnly, feeling genuine remorse for the first time in a while, since Klein's apparent death. "We seem to have been yet to be acquainted with each other... Did you know an overly-modest cricketer with blonde hair named the Doctor, perhaps?"

A cracked smile, but she shook her head. "No... My Doctor was clean-shaven at first with a leather jacket, then all spiky with a trench coat." Leather and bald then spiky with a large coat? She obviously took note of his displeasure, he smile widening considerably. "Suppose you haven't reached that point yet..."

"Suppose not..." The Doctor muttered dryly, Lungbarrow eyes less hostile not and more... Curious, about this individual before him. The notion she was possibly a threat died down every second, but he wasn't letting his guard down completely. "A future companion, I presume?" At her hesitant nod, the Doctor grinned weakly. Now they were getting somewhere. "What's your name?"

More reluctance. "I... I probably shouldn't..."

"If you're worried about paradoxes." The Doctor reassured her calmly. "Then you need not fret. We Time Lords have a knack of ridding ourselves of memories out of necessity." Or just to provide more spare, demonstarted by the riddance of many of Five's useless recollections.

But before she answered, the sound of the TARDIS attracted their attention, and it was clearly communicating to the mysterious woman. With a quiet nod, she looked back at the Doctor and answering lowly, "Bad Wolf... Call me Bad Wolf."

The Doctor sent the console a tedious look from the corner of his eyes, before humouring them. "Very well, Bad Wolf." 'Bad Wolf' cracked a smile at his dry attempt of humour, and this seemed to be encouraging the Doctor some reason to be more energetic with his words. "Perhaps you can explain why you're messing around with a dangerous toy, travelling through space-time with little-to-no protection." Her gaze followed his to the Time Agency device, clutching it rather protectively. "Surely older selves haven't grown careless with allowing their companions to be endangered this way."

That brought a much fonder smile on her face, a nice grin emerging on her youthful face. "You'd be surprised." The Doctor had to admit, the smile suited her. Just who was this woman? Brown eyes looked back at him. "It was an accident, I was tryin' to get back to him. To you. To my Doctor... Oh this is too complicated..."

Perhaps for her, but the Time Lord was beginning to grasp the implications. "You've been separated, and now tracking down my future self using subpar time travel technology at best. Am I understanding this correctly?" The weak shrug was a good enough answer. The Doctor sighed in low-suffering. "Glad my future self hasn't approved of its usage then."

"I had little choice!" 'Bad Wolf' snapped, brown eyes glaring and still glistening with tears, a fire burning away in her soul. "There's no other way to-" A deep inhale after cutting herself off, resuming her gaze at him with more calmer features. "Look, it's complicated, al'ight? The... My Doctor can't come back to get me... So, I had to make do with what we 'ad and..."

"And you overshot the coordinates."

The shrug was hardly convincing, even Ace would see right through the facade.

But regardless, the look was unsettling. Disturbing to the hearts of this old Time Lord. The distress was present in her tone, shining in her eyes, she truly missed the inevitable version of this being before her. It was a look of plea, of crying for help, to reunite with the version she seemingly cherished so.

To put herself at risk at this for this old fool... A puzzle indeed.

"May I...?" How effortlessly quick it was for her to reply with complete and utter trust, raising her arm which the device was attached onto, and the Doctor smiled, getting to work. The technology was primitive - shoddy, at best. Terribly shoddy - far less elegant than the typical designs the Time Agency utilized. But the Doctor was easily adaptable. It only took a few moments for his work to be done.

"Is that a sonic screwdriver?"

The Doctor gazed at the device he placed to the side in question. "Yes, it is."

'Bad Wolf' grinned, more brightly this time. "Blimey, you are young."

He almost bristled. "It's been a long while since I heard that..." Muttering in dissatisfaction himself, but the woman's warm smile soothed his irritation down, and he tried not to ponder why.

He'll forget about all this the moment she left, in any case.

"The ride will be more stable this time. And you will experience less distortions through the travels." The Doctor explained carefully to the young mystery, emphasizing his points clearly. "It's prudent you don't immediately travel straight after arriving in your next destination, give it a few minutes or less the power will implode on itself."

"You don't need to explain this like I'm a toddler..." 'Bad Wolf' muttered, regarding her wrist with open curiosity.

The Doctor quirked a light grin. "Sorry, old habits die hard." The amount of times he had to repeat himself to Ace regarding... Well, anything had him adopted the patient, slow lectures. "I've also added a Time Tracer; any other device, be it weapon, ship or a fellow Time Agent, will be detected through the time stream as you travel and allow you to follow. I'd highly advise using that as your guide, however, it can lead to danger."

"Like that hasn't stopped me before." And before the Doctor could request clarification for that, he was greeted by another hug, although he was more prepared this time, easily returning the gesture. "Thank you, Doctor..." She mumbled to his ear in gratitude and sheer sobbing joy. "This means more than you know."

He can imagine... But he dare not to.

"Just give my future incarnation a proper whack on the head for me, would you?" The Doctor requested lightheartedly. "For leaving you behind."

A quite chuckle, the hug ending once more, with 'Bad Wolf' grinning in hopeful amusement. "It's more complicated-"

"Than that. Yes yes, now I know how Ace feels." A frown in response, prompting the Doctor to clarify. "My... Former companion."

The frown deepened. "Are you with someone now?" Was that a note of jealously? She tilted her head at the negative response. "Why not?"

The Doctor sighed, rubbing his bald forehead slightly. "It's complicated, my dear..." A small smile at the mirrored answer, but that did little to ease his somber deposition. "It's better that way, regardless... I've gone too far to endanger anyone again... At this point of my life, in any case."

So imagine the startled reaction a gentle, warm petite hand brushing his worn cheek, brown eyes reassuring him that everything was alright. "It gets better, you'll see... You'll have people who think of you as family... People who love you... I promise you, you won't be alone again..."

"Clearly." The Doctor was stunned, for the first time in years. Here he was, the Chessmaster, genuinely taken aback by a mystery. A mystery from his future who claims everything will get better for him.

It was almost too good to be true...

And with the sound of another distortion, the warm sensation on his cheek disappearing, the Doctor knew. She was gone, back to search for her Doctor. The Doctor who will presumably be beloved by many. With a quiet sigh, the Doctor opened his eyes where 'Bad Wolf' once was.

Hope for her... And for himself...

When was the last time he felt such a feeling-?

Oh what now? A brief annoyed glanced at the beeping monitor, sighing again, this time in pure tedious irritation, at the message from his people. Trust the almighty Time Lords to ruin the moment.

Inputting the coordinates, the image of the young woman slowly disappearing from his mind, a gaze cast at the still-radiant rose far by the chair.

A puzzle for another time... But certainly a puzzle he looked forward to solving.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Timelines:**

 **Between "The Two Masters" and "Lungbarrow" for Seven. Pre-movie version.**

 **And between "Doomsday" and "Partners in Crime" for Rose. Post-series three.**

 **Or whatever convoluted timelines those two are going through. I worked with what I had. I admit, not overly fond of Rose myself, so forgive me for any inaccuracies, but I do enjoy the interactive fics between herself and past Doctors. We need more of those.**

 **As for Seven, I always enjoyed exploring his pre-movie era; a more darker, wearier side of this incarnation with little time for playing the clown and with spoons anymore.**

 **And yes, this sets for how Rose can suddenly drift across time and space like we saw in Partners in Crime.**

 **Until next time, friends!**


End file.
